What happens when a 15-year-old kid messing with websites stumbles into affiliate marketing… and never looks back?
This week, Mike Walker gets real about how his journey actually went. From Craigslist “schemes” and ringtone offers to running campaigns that pulled in thousands a day, dropping out of college just 12 credits shy of graduation, and eventually building a full-blown health insurance agency.
He’s seen the highs (100k/day refi runs) and the lows (watching it all fall apart after balling out too hard), and he doesn’t sugarcoat any of it.
We also get into the fun side projects like how Mike recently decided to start DJing and the deeper stuff, like why networking shortcuts your learning curve, why media buying still feels like a superpower, and how AI is reshaping everything from ad creative to call centers.
In this episode:
[00:50] Meet Mike Walker: from a teenager coding websites to running big affiliate campaigns
[04:52] The first steps into affiliate marketing: Craigslist hustles, ringtones, and pin submits
[08:16] Early wins, early mistakes: “I woke up, spent $100, and made several hundred back”
[15:22] Shifting into lead gen and the refi gold rush
[18:40] Building a health insurance agency out of ACA flows
[21:33] How Mike re-imagined the process so agents became more like “order takers”
[30:29] Media buying as a life skill: the grind, the thrill, and why it still feels like a superpower
[34:13] Real ways Mike uses AI in his business from creative testing to voice agents
[46:02] Big picture: how AI could reshape call centers, service jobs, and maybe everything else
[50:10] Mike’s advice for breaking into the space without burning all your cash
Key Takeaway
Mike’s not chasing shiny niches anymore…he’s rethinking the process.
By flipping the ACA flow so consumers picked their plans online, he turned his agents into “order takers” instead of hard sellers, which unlocked the scale most people missed.
And through it all, he keeps coming back to the same lesson: media buying is a forever skill.
No matter what happens with industries or platforms, if you know how to run ads, you’ll always have a way back.
Connect with Mike Walker
Email: mike@rubiconperform.com
Website: Rubicon Performance
Instagram: @its_walker
About Mike Walker
Mike Walker is the CEO of Balanced Benefits Group and co-founder of Rubicon Performance. He’s been hustling online since his teens, building websites and running affiliate campaigns. And when he’s not talking leads or traffic, he’s probably fooling around with DJ decks for fun!
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